Pressing cover for irons



July 4, 1961 AAAAA B. D. ROGERS PRESSING COVER FOR IRONS Filed Sept. 8, 1959 Bea INVENTOR. Q Rage/J United States Patent 2,990,635 PRESSING (JOVER FOR IRONS Bea D. Rogers, 1103 E. Culver, l'hoenix, Ariz. Filed Sept. 8, 1959, 'Ser. No. 838,677 1 Claim. or. 38-97) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in pressing covers for electric irons, and has particular reference to a cover suitable for use either with a standard iron or with a. steam iron, in which steam is ejected through orifices in the foot plate of the iron.

The principal objects of the present invention are the provision of a pressing cover of the character described which permits pressing withoutthe use of .a cover or pressing cloth and thereby exposes the working area to the full view of the operator, which permits ironing or pressing on the face side of a fabric without causing shine or glossing of the fabric, which prevents the formation of hot iron marks on the fabric being pressed, and which when used on a steam iron prevents the formation of steam marks on the fabric, and insures uniform distribution of the steam over the entire area of the foot plate. The latter function is extremely important when ironing synthetic materials such as rayon, nylon, etc., since localized areas of the foot to which steam is delivered poorly if at all creates hot spots on the iron foot which will burn or disintegrate such synthetics. This effect is particularly common at the point or toe portion of many steam irons, since this portion of the iron normally traverses a given portion of the work before any of the steam orifices of the foot plate do so.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a pressing cover of the character described which can be applied to virtually any iron despite normal variations in size and shape of the foot plate thereof, and which may be attached to said iron without the use of set screws, wires, ties, or fasteners of any sort.

Generally, these objects are accomplished by the provision of a pressing cover comprising an upper layer of open-mesh wire screen, an intermediate layer or layers of a porous padding material such as flannel cloth, and a bottom or facing layer of porous but glossy, high finish material such as nylon or Dacron fabric, all of said layers being secured together along their edges. The glossy facing layer permits easy movement of the cover over the material being pressed. The padding layer provides the cushioning which prevents the glossing or glazing of the material being pressed by the hard iron surface, and also prevents the pattern of the wire screen mesh from being impressed through the facing layer to the material being pressed. The wire screen has at least three distinct functions. Firstly, it provides the slight spacing or air space between the iron foot and the padding and facing layers which prevents burning or scorching of said layers which would otherwise result from direct contact with the iron foot plate. Secondly, it provides for thorough and uniform distribution of steam over the entire area of the foot plate, when the cover is used with a steam iron. Thirdly, it provides a degree of stiffness to the cover so that it may be attached to the iron by bending the edge portions thereof upwardly and inwardly about the edges of the foot plate.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, efficiency and dependability of operation, and ease and convenience of use.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a pressing cover for irons embodying the present invention,

:FIGS. 2 and 3 are enlarged fragmentary sectional views taken respectively on lines 11-11 and III---III of FIGS. I and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an electric iron with a pressing cover embodying the present invention attached operatively thereto.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts througlr out the several views, and the numeral 2 applies generally to the pressing cover forming the subject matter of this invention. It is planar in form, and has the same general shape as, though being somewhat longer than, the foot plate '4 of an electric iron 6, which also has a body portion 8 and handle 10. Thus the rearward portion of the cover is generally rectangular, having parallel sides, and the forward portion thereof is tapered as shown. It does not, however, come to a point at its forward end, but is cut off square for a purpose which will presently appear. The exact size of the cover is not pertinent to the invention, it being necessary merely that it blankets the entire area of foot plate 4, and extends outwardly therefrom in all directions to some extent as shown in FIG.'4. It will thus be apparent that a single size of cover will be adaptable to many different irons despite variations in size and shape of the foot plates thereof.

The cover 2 as shown comprises three layers of material, a top layer 10 of open-mesh wire screen, preferably of a non-corrosive metal such as aluminum, an intermediate padding layer 12 of a soft cloth such as cotton flannel, and a bottom or facing layer 14 of a smooth, high gloss cloth such as nylon or Dacron synthetic. Said layers are bound together along their side edges by cloth tapes 16 stitched thereto as at 18 and said tapes are extended rearwardly from the cover to form flexible tie strips 20. At the forward end of the cover, the padding and facing layers are {folded rearwardly on themselves as indicated at 22, and the screen mesh is folded rearwardly on itself as indicated at 24 (see FIG. 3). The additional cover layers thus provided serve the purpose of reinforcement, as will appear.

The cover is applied to the iron as shown in FIG. 4, the foot plate 4 of the iron being rested on the screen side of the cover, and the cover secured thereto by bending it upwardly and inwardly around the edges of the foot plate. The screen wire is sufficiently soft and bendable that it may easily be manually forced to the iron as shown, and yet possesses suflicient stiffness that once formed it will retain its shape with sufiicient rigidity to hold the cover in assembly with the iron against the strains and pressures of ordinary usage. While the edge of the cover could be bent upwardly around the entire periphery of the foot plate if desired, it is shown as bent upwardly only at the toe of the foot plate, as indicated at 26, and at its rearward corners, as indicated at 28. At the toe of the iron, the fact that the cover is not pointed, but is cut off square, while virtually all irons have foot plates pointed at their forward ends, provides that there will always be ample projecting portions of the cover to form the bend 26. Also, the doubling of the screen 10 at this portion of the cover provides greater rigidity to the cover so that once bend 26 is formed, it will hold its shape with greater strength. In certain irons there is only a very slight setback of the iron body 8 from the edge of the foot plate, particularly along the sides and at the rearward edge of the foot plate. In such cases, it might not be possible to bend the cover inwardly above the foot plate sufiiciently to secure the rearward portion of the cover to said foot plate with satisfactory permanence, and when such circumstances exist, it may be desirable to secure the rearward end of the cover by knotting the tie strips 7 20 together over the top of iron body 8 beneath handle 10, as indicated at 30. In most instances, however, the tie strips are not necessary and could be dispensed with. The operation of the cover is substantially as previous- 3 ly described. The smooth facing layer 14 minimizes friction in moving the work over the material being pressed, and holds the iron out of contact with the work so as to prevent hot iron marks on the material as the glazing or shining of the work. The padding layer 12 also provides a cushioning effect which prevents glazing or shining of the work. In addition, the padding prevents the pattern of the wire screen from being impressed on the work, and when used with a steam iron serves to assist in the uniform distribution of steam over the area of the foot plate, since it is more porous and of looser weave than layer 14. The screen layer it) permits free circulation of steam over the entire area of the cover, since it is of open-mesh form. It also acts as a spacer holding the cloth layers 12 and 14 slightly apart from the foot plate, thereby preventing burning or scorching of the cloth layers. By virtue of its bendable nature, it also permits attachment of the cover to the ironwithout the use of separate fasteners, as previously described. The folded back portions 22 of the cloth layers 12 and 14, and the folded back portion 24 of the screen, serve to reinforce the cover to prevent any tendency of the point of the iron foot plate to work through the cover after extended periods of use.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of .the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: V

A pressing cover for irons comprising a generally planar assembly adapted to be secured to the lower face of the foot plate of an iron, said assembly comprising a top layer of woven wire screen formed of easily bendable wires, an intermediate layer of porous padding material, and a bottom facing layer of smooth, high-finish, porous fabric, said assembly being of greater dimensions than the foot plate of the iron to which it is to be secured whereby to extend outwardly in all directions therefrom, whereby the bendability of the wires of said screen permit the projecting portions of said assembly to be bent upwardly to engage permanently the edges of said foot plate to secure said assembly thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bass Oct. 20, 1942 Jacobson Mar. 10, 1959 

